


Comforts

by eri_quin



Series: Right at Home (A MK/Ronin tale) [1]
Category: Epic (2013)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-28
Updated: 2015-04-28
Packaged: 2018-03-26 05:55:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3839614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eri_quin/pseuds/eri_quin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ronin, still grieving for Tara, is trying to move on. Everyone treats him like glass and he can't find anyone to be around. But then suddenly MK is there, and he found someone who just…understands, someone he can talk to and be with, without being thought of as fragile. Two-shot: Pre-Ronin/MK, mention of Nod/MK and Ronin/Tara.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part I

**Grief:**

Ronin found himself, after the adrenaline and the high-stakes, full-on dizzying events after Queen Tara's death, at a lost. Now that he had no "mission" to focus on, the rush of on-going, deadly fighting, and the need to take down the Leafmen's greatest enemy…Ronin seemed unsure where to go from there. He continued his duties, trained his soldiers and new recruits, and helped the new Queen where and when he could.

And that left him to remember Tara and to thoughts of what ifs and what else could he have done. Sometimes it caused him sleepless nights, and yet he would still be able to function through the next day. But somehow, it was still obvious to everyone that he wasn't doing well.

Queen Marigold, the new Queen of the Forest, began to slowly give him less work to do, until suddenly she requested that he just take time off for himself.

He couldn't remember the last time he'd ever taken time off.

"It'll be good for you," Nod told him, after he'd practically been ordered to this vacation. "You need some rest. You're starting to look like a cranky old man, Ronin!"

He halfheartedly swatted at Nod's head, but he didn't really feel up to bantering with the younger man. He just wanted…

"Rest," Ronin echoed. "Maybe I really do just need to rest."

So he went off to do exactly that.

* * *

It wasn't so easy after all. Resting in his home led to more thoughts, thoughts that he wanted to ignore. Instead, they plagued him all the more, now that he had nothing to preoccupy his mind and keep him too busy from thinking about things best left be.

Because everywhere he went, Tara went with him.

He was always thinking what ifs about her. Did he love her? Yes. No. Maybe? He had never let himself explore his feelings too closely before, knowing his role and knowing they had to have a clear distinction between each other. But he knew he had cared a great deal about her, and could have gone over that edge into love if he'd let himself…But he hadn't. And he wouldn't now, when it was far too late.

He also wondered about times if he could have treated her like he did when they were younger; foolish but happy friends. If he could just have smiled more for her. If he could have put less emphasis on his duty, and more as a friend.

Everyone was so quick to comfort him and say they knew what he was feeling, that they had lost Tara too.

But it wasn't the same, and they had lost Queen Tara when he'd just lost Tara over and over again through the years.

If he closed his eyes, he could picture her again…

Then the cycle just repeated all over for him for the day.

* * *

Ronin found himself traveling to the spot where Tara had died. He hadn't been near this place since the day she'd died there, but for some reason he felt like going there now. Maybe he needed to grieve there. If he was there, maybe he could find some closure…

To his surprise, he saw that there was already someone else there.

Mary Katherine, the girl who'd shrunk and help them save the forest and helped protect the pod, was kneeling at the spot where Tara had died. The place was still blackened, but now a new decorated stone was placed in the middle of the tarnished site, a bright spot in the middle of such blackness.

He could see the 'Queen Tara' etched out onto the stone, as well as a crude daisy drawing underneath that, and felt his lips twitch up, though he never fully smiled.

"You didn't have to do that," he snuck up on her, guessing that the stomper girl had gotten a stone and carved all that onto it.

Surprised, MK turned and caught sight of him, giving a sheepish smile that she'd been caught.

"I felt like I did," she told him honestly, and he noted curiously that neither needed her father's equipment to communicate to each other.

He made it to her side, and gazed down at the marker.

"I didn't know her for long, or even at all, but she'd changed my life the moment I met her," MK confessed. "And it felt like she'd been reaching out to me, and I couldn't ignore her call or leave her side."

Ronin looked at her and remembered that this strange girl held and protected the Queen in her last moments, even though she hardly knew Tara, and even was willing to keep her safe from him and the other Leafmen, who had been just as much strangers to MK as the Queen had been.

And Ronin smiled sadly inside as he turned back to the stone and that horrible spot, and thought that at least there was one other person who grieved and knew Tara as Tara, and not as the Queen.

**Camera:**

Nod was excited and chattering a mile a minute. He finally had free time and was looking forward to going to one of those strange block things that would allow him to talk to MK. It amused Ronin, but he wasn't going to ruin Nod's excitement and happy cheer.

Especially since Nod was still upset over the agreement he and MK had over the two of them being unfit for each other. Beyond their size difference, they simply had different temperaments. Most of the time, Nod was simply too immature, where oppositely MK tended to be the more mature one. Even with Nod seemingly grown up more after the whole 'saving the forest,' that fact hadn't changed.

And even if Nod had agreed, he was still upset and had lingering feelings for MK.

Then again, Ronin knew that differences like those could be minor in a relationship, and who knew if those two could find themselves drifting back towards each other anyway, despite that. Or maybe Nod would finally grow up enough and be more mature (well that he kind of doubted and wasn't too sure would ever happen).

"Hey, Ronin, why don't you come with me?" Nod asked as he got onto his bird.

Ronin glanced at him in surprise. "You want  _me_  to come with you? Are you sure?"

Nod grinned at him. "Sure, why not? I gotta get you out of this place before you turn all dark and gloomy. Not that you aren't already!"

Ronin rolled his eyes, but easily hopped onto the bird behind him.

"Then hurry it up!"

* * *

The ride to one of those things was quick. MK's dad fitted one closer to them, so that they didn't have to travel so far away to find one so they could talk. It wasn't long until they'd set down and Nod had activated one of those things, and then they were hearing MK, though they couldn't see her.

Ronin also just had the thought that this was the first time he'd interacted with MK since the day they'd grieved by Tara's grave. He felt awkward and unready.

"Hey, MK! Guess who I have with me?" Nod enthusiastically said into the clunky box.

"Who is it? Mub?" they heard her voice, though Ronin was sure she sounded clearer than ever to them.

Nod made a face. "As if. No! It's Ronin! He's on break from work right now, so I thought I'd drag him along."

"Hey, Ronin. How are you?" and he was glad that she sounded normal and not treating him like glass. Even Nod had a tendency to do that most of the time these days.

"I'm alright, MK. Thanks for asking," he quirked one side of his lips as he stepped closer and into view of the box.

"Oh! Is that a  _smile_  from you, Ronin?" he heard MK teased, but he felt a pang in his heart at such similar candor over the same topic Tara used to tease him about as well.

He smiled sadly. "Yeah, it is," he said simply, though he probably sounded off.

"Well, good! About time, Mr. Brooding," MK continued, treating him normally, even when he was sure that she'd caught his tone and could see him slump a little.

It made him feel a little relieved and grateful.

Nod then stepped up to the box and practically demanded MK's attention, redirecting her focus to him as he began to tell her all about what he'd done lately, updates about the Boggan situation (that wasn't so dire anymore), and miscellaneous stuff.

Ronin stepped back and let himself become part of the background.

* * *

Ronin dropped by the box thing, getting off his hummingbird with ease. He examined it, fingering the knobs and buttons in curiosity.

"Ronin?" he heard MK's voice out of nowhere, and he just barely kept himself from jumping in surprise.

He stepped back from the box and gave a small wave and a tinier smile.

"Hello, MK. I was just observing one of these box things."

"Cameras," he heard her say. "They're called cameras."

Ronin blinked, but at least had a name for these camera things now. He began to pepper her with questions about them, and she did her best to answer.

He didn't want to tell anyone, even to her, that aside from his curiosity at the cameras, that he'd wanted to come and talk to her.

She was, after all, the only person willing to talk to him and talk to him normally.

* * *

It had become a frequent thing for Ronin to visit a camera, and wait for MK to come and talk to him. It felt nice to talk to someone so candidly, and he couldn't remember the last time he did. He used to with Finn, before Nod's father died. And before that, he had talked casually and like friends with Tara and Nod's father.

And then Nod's father died and before and after that, he'd let duty and his single-minded focus on his job dictate the way he interacted with everyone.

It felt relaxing and freeing to be able to be so casual with someone again. And MK never treated him as if he was going to break, not even when she accidentally or purposely brought up Tara.

He talked about himself, about Tara, about life as a jinn and Leafman. She talked about herself, her mother, her father, and life as a stomper. He learned about "university" and how she was planning on attending it soon. She learned about how life in Moonhaven was going, now after everything had happened.

Ronin couldn't remember ever letting anyone know so much about himself, or learning or knowing so much about another. He hadn't even let Tara in as much.

But here he was, being so personal and intimate in a way that he had never been, and with a stomper no less.

He found that he was okay about it. That he was…okay.

_He_  was okay.

* * *

Ronin had just gotten back from another visit to MK, when he was surprised to see Nod waiting by his door. The younger man looked relieved to see him.

"There you are. I was worried," Nod shrugged nonchalantly, but Ronin could see he'd honestly worried the other by disappearing off to somewhere and not letting anyone know.

"I was just by one of those camera things, talking to MK," he reassured the other.

But something flickered across Nod's eyes and the brunet pursed his lips while furrowing his eyebrows.

"MK? What for?" Nod asked in confusion and something else.

Uneasy, Ronin brought up a semi-truth (but still a white lie).

"I was asking about the cameras. I've been curious about them."

Nod scrunched up his nose and pretended to gag, thrown off by Ronin's excuse. Ronin just rolled his eyes, but he was still feeling uneasy.

Perhaps it was best to keep his visits and talks to MK to himself.

**Garden:**

He was curious and surprised to find MK, as he'd taken to visiting her house instead these days, in her backyard. She was tending to some part of the ground, in the middle of all the grass and soil, and then she was carefully spilling water onto it.

"MK?"

She turned slightly and he could see her green eyes scanning the yard for him, and he jumped from the porch's deck to land on the railings. He waved a bit until she caught the movement, and her face broke out into a smile.

"Hey, Ronin! Feeling bored again? They still have you on break?" she walked closer to him, and once by his side, set the contraption that held water right on the porch's floor by her feet.

Ronin's smile faltered. "Actually…I'm supposed to be retiring," he admitted reluctantly.

She didn't look at him in pity, though she did sigh. "Aww, man! Sounds like you need some new hobbies to take up instead."

And he felt better about his (sort of) forced retirement, especially when MK doesn't go all totally sympathetic on him, but merely empathizes and commiserates. It's not all "I'm sorry, Ronin" or "It's just best if you just start taking time for yourself more." It's more "Aw, crud, Ronin. You're probably going to be bored as hell. Those recruits are gonna suck now without you!" or "Maybe you should be one of those bird racers that Nod told me about. You're an awesome flyer!" And personally, he preferred the "Aww, man!" that she first came out with, and that was very reminiscent of that time after the mouse incident, and where she thought he and Nod and the whole thing had been a dream…and actually wasn't.

It made him chuckle a bit.

And after joking about his retirement, which was a nice change from the death sentence everyone else was acting like it was (and was making him feel like it was), Ronin finally inquired about what MK had been doing just before he'd come in.

"I've been working on a garden," she explained, beaming at him happily. "I wanted to grow some tomatoes, pomegranates, and maybe some flowers too."

He'd never figured MK for the growing things type, but it was a pleasant surprise that reminded him a bit of Tara's joy in growing things herself.

He smiled at the thought and maybe, with his retirement, he should try growing things himself.

* * *

He wasn't sure what he was looking for, but then he saw the flowers that belong only in Moonhaven. He blinked and then a smile threatened to spread on his lips. Instead, he grabbed a few seeds from the different kinds, and then headed home.

He looked at his bare home, and then where he'd tentatively thought to plant some of the seeds. He frowned and looked thoughtful, barely glancing back at that spot as he turned to leave.

That night, in MK's little garden, he planted his seeds and found a way to water them with that "pail" MK used to water her own seedlings.

He continued to do so for a few days, and he could see tiny sprouts already popping up and spreading some Moonhaven beauty and magic in that charming little backyard belonging to two wonderful stompers.

* * *

MK was quick to notice the additions to her garden, and gave him knowing looks as soon as the sprouts showed up. He gave a deadpan look back, but his lips twitched and his eyes twinkled.

"They're beautiful," MK noted wistfully.

"They are," Ronin agreed, feeling at peace.

"You know, that means this is our garden now. You helped add to it," she gave him a glance, but she was grinning widely.

"Our garden," he gave it a try, and it sounded good on his tongue. He smirked at her. "I guess I found my new occupation."

"Ronin the Gardner," MK teased. "Sounds like the perfect deal!"

He laughed, and it felt so good. He didn't remember the last time he felt so good, or had even laughed so sincerely and so much.

"I think I'm okay with that."

**Stars:**

He visited her late at night; a strange occurrence. His visits usually stray towards the morning and last through the day. He'd never came late at night, and he was sure she was sleeping already.

But that night was different. He couldn't sleep, couldn't stay still. He felt restless in his home, and the silence and stillness bothered him more than usual. He'd felt nothing but caginess, like the walls of his home was boxing him in.

So he'd escaped and found himself heading to MK's home.

But as he'd neared, he thought that this had been a silly idea (notwithstanding that he'd just headed over and hadn't actually thought about it). Then again, his instinctive journey seemed like it wasn't for naught in the end. He could see the lights of her room on, and maybe it wouldn't be so terrible to head up to her room and see if she didn't mind late night company.

Ronin took his usual route, and found himself knocking on her window. The sound was magnified by the microphone MK had explained she'd put out her window, so she could hear him when he came. The window slid open, and Ronin slipped inside and passed MK's leaning figure, dropping onto the desk that was set up right next to it.

"Late night visit? Something the matter, Ronin?" she asked, though she had a genuine tone of worry seeping through.

He gave her a brief upturn of his lips. "No, I just couldn't sleep tonight. I decided to drop bye, say hi, maybe hijack a few Boggans and bait them into a brawl for fun."

"Ha ha," she rolled her eyes, closing her window and taking a step back. She offered her hand to him and he nimbly climbed on, letting her gently pick him up and bring him over to where she was working on some kind of machine.

"What's that?" Ronin pointed it out.

"It's a star projector," MK told him, even though he still didn't understand. "It's a machine that can show stars on the walls and ceilings when it's turned on."

He was amazed at the piece of technology, and wasn't sure how it could do that. But he wanted to know and he wanted to see it.

"Are you going to turn it on?" he asked, a bit of his eagerness showing.

She gave him a wry grin. "I'm actually working on fixing it. It hasn't been used in years, and a few wires are loose."

Disappointed, he nodded and stayed by her side quietly, as she focused on the machine and went back to work. The serious look on her face was endearing, as well as her focus being so determined and single-minded on her self-claimed project.

He briefly looked outside and caught sight of the sky outside. He got distracted when a triumphant shout from MK caught his attention.

"I've got it!"

She then got up and turned off the lights, and then headed back to him. She turned on the machine and he looked around in awe, as he saw the starry sky surrounding them.

"Amazing," he murmured.

"Isn't it?" she hummed happily. "I love the stars. I've always thought my mom, after she died, became a star and watches over me now from the sky."

Ronin glanced at her before moving around in a circle, gazing around the starry room.

Was Tara a star now too, and watching over him?

"I like that thought," he told her honestly. "I like it a lot."

It was fitting. Tara had been such a bright soul.

She'd shone so brilliantly when she was alive, so it was just right that she became a shining star after her death.

* * *

Ronin visited the next night, wanting to see MK's room covered in stars again. MK could only look at him in apology as she held up the machine and put it away, sliding it under her bed.

"It finally broke completely," she sighed. "At least it had one last good use last night, and you got to see it."

He nodded, grateful for that experience. It really was too bad.

His eyes strayed outside again, and he saw the night sky. Pulling at MK's sleeve, he pointed out her window.

"We should go outside then. The sky's full of stars right now."

MK smiled as she saw where he was looking and agreed, carefully grabbing onto him and going out of her room. Quietly going down her steps and then out of her house, she headed to her backyard. Once she'd reached their little garden, she set him down before lying down herself. He mimicked her position, lying on the grass by her head.

Together, they stared up at the sky and felt the peace and quiet settled around them nicely.

Started 4/7/15 – Completed 4/9/15


	2. Part II

**Marbles:**

Ronin wasn't sure what MK was doing, but it was certainly peculiar. She had many round glass balls, tiny to her, but was around half his size. Currently, she was lying on her front on the floor, with many of those balls scattered about the floor. MK was picking some of those balls from a small bag and flicking them at the ones on the floor.

"What are you doing? And what are those?" he asked in confusion.

MK answered distractedly, focused on what she was doing. "They're called marbles. They're just tiny, decorative glass balls. Usually you make a game out of them, though there's an actual professional game set up for them and that they're also just collected by people."

He wasn't quite sure he got all of that, but he amused himself by settling down by her head and watching her aim and take shots at the other "marbles," trying to hit them and knock them away.

"It seems a bit pointless," Ronin mused, though he held no particular judgmental tone. "But I can see its entertainment value."

"Mm," Mk hummed. "Good, senseless, and idle fun. No need to make it all complex and headache-inducing. Sometimes, the simple things in life is where it's all at."

Ronin thought about that, and decided it was a good philosophy, and maybe one he should look into. He had the tendency to always make things bigger than they were, and to always make things harder on himself. Her thought, if anything, was a less stressful way to deal with things.

He'd appreciate the less stress in his life.

* * *

The bounce of the marble came dangerously close to where he was. At last second, Ronin dodged to the side.

"You might want to be a little more faster, Ronin," MK teased. "You might end up being crushed."

"You just worry about yourself!" which, on second thought, was stupid. She was the one tossing those damn marbles, while he was the one running and dodging.

He was slightly regretting asking MK to help him train.

But ever since his retirement, he felt odd going to the training grounds and training with the others. The other Leafmen made it worse by continually sending him looks and walking on eggshells around him. Nod, who was there a lot as well, tended to treat Ronin as if he was going to fall apart at any second and he had to be careful with what he said and did around the former Leaf General.

And yet Ronin, despite being retired, still wanted to keep fit and on his game. Just because he was retired didn't mean he could let himself go, and generally be lazy. So he still had to find a way to keep himself combat-ready and find a way to train, which lead to him asking MK for her opinion and help.

Which led to him dodging dangerous marbles aimed to seriously knock him out if he didn't get away in time.

He was, by the end of this, sure he'd be faster and more evasive than the others. How could he not, when his life was in danger from crazy, giggling red-heads and glass balls of doom?

* * *

The marbles, it turned out, were good for strength and endurance training too. One day, he decided he would push one from one end of MK's room to the other. It actually took a lot of work. But the more he did it, the more easily it started to become.

He could also train his balance on them, as he climbed on top of one and attempted to keep on it. It had been a struggle climbing onto one in the first place.

He realized after a while, that MK's room had sort of become his new training ground, and he found that it suited him just fine.

* * *

Ronin was exhausting himself more often than not in his new training rituals. Had he done so back in his old training grounds in Moonhaven, there had been break areas where the Leafmen could rest up. He had also just been able to fly back to his home hurriedly.

But since he now trained in MK's room, he didn't really have either option. Thankfully MK, astute as ever, had noticed without him even needing to say anything. He tended to exhaust himself so often in her room, that after a particular hard training session, he'd just pass out peacefully on her floor, to which she'd then carry and lay him on her bed.

So when Ronin had come to visit MK some days after she'd noticed –without him noticing –, he found that she'd set up her old dollhouse for him. It had been cleaned, spruced up, and a very welcoming bed and some chairs had been added for him to relax in. A small bowl of water was set out next to it, and the tiny cup (that Professor Bomba probably made) that was put by the bowl, was ready for him to scoop water out of it and drink as much as he wanted.

He grinned at her as she grinned back, and couldn't help that he was starting to feel very much at home.

**Sleep:**

Ronin was finding it harder and harder to sleep in his own home. There were nights where he had dreams that he didn't want to dream of, nights were he just felt unable to sleep and was probably plagued with insomnia, and then there were nights where the cold, quiet, and loneliness of his home began to bother him too much.

Circles lined under his eyes and he couldn't sleep much anymore. As he walked around Moonhaven these days, his state was noticeable and everyone tended to just give him worried looks, and he got treated like glass even worse than usual. To stay away from everyone and their looks, he usually stayed in his home. And if he didn't stay in his home, he was in MK's home, which was happening far more than even usual.

It felt more comfortable and less taxing to be there and in her presence, than it was dealing with everyone back in Moonhaven.

And as he listened to the "classical music" MK put on as she worked on some papers ("applications" of some sort…), he could feel his eyes drift close.

The long needed and wanted sleep came to him then, when it was so hard to get in his home.

* * *

He noticed it quickly. He had so much trouble sleeping in his own home that it wasn't that hard to note the difference.

He found no peace in his own home and could never easily sleep there anymore. But as he slumbered more and more in MK's room, in his own little spot in the dollhouse, he realized that he had come to see and was finding MK's room and "his" dollhouse more home than the place he lived in in Moonhaven.

He was spending more time in MK's room than in Moonhaven as a whole. He slept, lived, ate and drank in MK's room, with the occasional and rather rare days and nights where Finn (and sometimes Nod) would prod him into joining them and the others to hang out or have a drink or two.

But he was coming to find that he felt more at peace and more at home with MK in her home and in her room, than anywhere else these days.

His sleep went uninterrupted in the nights where he stayed over, and he wasn't at war with himself and with everyone else.

And MK, sweet as always, was an ever constant, quiet, and solid presence.

* * *

When Ronin was sleeping, he dreamt. He dreamt of Tara, he dreamt of Moonhaven, and then he was dreaming of MK and her room. Sometimes he dreamt of all three of them, he, Tara, and MK, just peacefully sitting together in a familiar field.

He could never hear what any of them was saying, but Tara would have a wide, happy smile and she would say something that had MK giggling. He would feel himself smile, though he had no idea what was said. He felt like an outsider looking in; like he was out of his body.

Tara used to be everywhere, haunting him, even when she was smiling so happily. And then all of a sudden, MK was everywhere, and she was in his dreams, there when he was awake, there when he was content, and there when he was tired or sad.

And when he started dreaming of that familiar field later on, Tara wasn't there anymore, and it was just MK looking around lost like she wasn't sure what she was doing there and she was looking for someone to be there too. And then she'd look his way and she'd smile brightly, and hold out her hand to him.

She was always there when he was awake and stuck in reality. When he closed his eyes, he could still see her.

Dreams were more pleasant these days (he'd never had such good dreams, or had even be able to dream so well his entire life), and sleeping wasn't such a chore now.

_"If you need me, know I'll be there."_

These nights, dreaming of that field and of MK, she says that to him all the time, and he believed it wholeheartedly.

**Home:**

Home is where the heart is. That's what Tara used to tell him all the time. Though he'd never denied that, he'd never put much thought or focus on the saying. He let Tara say it and he would indifferently agree…

But now he was sure he'd found a home.

Home where he was happy to have meals with Bomba and MK, and felt like family. Home where he could rest easily, and where he had his space and yet also had someone willing to wait there and hold out their hand. Her hand.

Home was where MK was, he realized.

Because his heart was right there.

* * *

"A lazy day?" Ronin teased as he climbed in through her window.

MK tossed him a grin from where she was lying on her bed, taking off one of her earbuds and the faint music drifting from them was heard.

"I suppose you can say that," she laughed lightly.

She held out a hand to him and he jumped onto it, keeping himself dignified and balanced on her curved palm. She lifted him over and closer to her, settling him down on her shoulder. She lifted the earbud not in her ear and handed it over to him, and he sat down comfortably while holding it. He closed his eyes, unknowingly at the same time she did, and listened to what she was listening to.

_"I didn't know that it was so cold  
_ _And you needed someone_   _to show you the way  
_ _So I took your hand and we figured out  
_ _That when the time comes  
_ _I'd take you away~"_

He smiled slightly, feeling himself drifting away and becoming drowsy.

"If you want to, I can save you; I can take you away from here. So lonely inside, so busy out there. And all you wanted was somebody who cares…"

He peeked one eye open and looked at her, recognizing her softly singing that part.

'Thanks for caring' he wanted to say to her, but the words got stuck in his throat.

So all he could do was give a full, if soft, smile towards her, even if she couldn't see with her eyes closed.

* * *

From his spot in the dollhouse, laid out on his front on his tiny bed, he gazed out of the window of MK's room and to the outside. The outside he never really felt like venturing back to, at least not beyond the borders of this house.

The stars twinkled in the sky, and it was quiet. He could hear MK's breathing as she slept on, while he stayed awake and aware.

Nothing felt out of place. Not even him.

"I'm home," he murmured.

He was home.

**Empty:**

He acknowledged that while he wasn't as fragile as everyone else had thought he was, that Ronin had still not been feeling strong.

There was pain and there had been sorrow. And he had felt that.

He needed a friend, someone to lean on. He didn't need someone to carry him, make him feel like a burden and breakable.

MK had been that friend and he had leaned on her all this time.

When he felt like he couldn't do it anymore, just closing his eyes and seeing her had helped him. When Moonhaven and everyone in it started to suffocate him, he fled to her and found a safe haven. When he was too tired, he found rest with her. When he couldn't relax, he found peace around her.

She made him believe in a tomorrow when he hadn't wanted to.

The days when he felt empty were starting to fade away.

* * *

They were at their garden, where MK was watering the vegetables and flowers and he was sitting on her head and watching.

"Hey, MK…"

"Hm?"

"Thank you for being there."

MK set down the watering pail and gently took him off of her head, keeping him sitting carefully in her cupped hands. She smiled brightly.

"You're welcome, Ronin. Anytime," and she gently leaned closer and kissed the top of his head. "Let's just keep looking forward to tomorrow, alright?"

"Okay."

And he did look forward to his tomorrows now.

* * *

MK was in the midst of putting breakfast down and about to get her father to eat, when the sound of a slot was heard. Curiously, Ronin looked over in the direction of the entrance, knowing by now that that sound meant the mail had come. MK looked certainly anxious about something.

"Waiting for something?" he asked, jolting her back into the present.

She gave him a small smile. "I'm hoping that my acceptance letter is there…or alternatively my rejection letter."

He gave her a reassuring smile. "I doubt you, of all people, will be rejected for anything."

She crossed her fingers, which he knew meant for luck or something like that, and went to the entrance, disappearing around the corner for a second. Then she was back, holding a pile of envelopes and then sitting down at the table.

He walked over to her and sat down by her plate, waiting patiently as she sorted through the mail. When she stopped at one, he straightened up and looked at her inquiringly as she dropped the rest of the mail to the side on the table, and began to open the one she held.

He watched as her green eyes quickly scanned through the letter, reading it quickly, before she broke out into a wide smile.

"Yes!"

She picked him up excitedly and jumped to her feet, peppering his head with kisses.

"I'm in, Ronin! I got into Harvard!"

Though Ronin looked supportive and even quirked his lips up somewhat for her, inside he couldn't help the dread that began to build up for some reason.

* * *

As the days began to pass, Ronin began to realize just exactly what it meant for MK to be accepted into Harvard.

The foremost being that she was leaving.

She was leaving him.

He knew that was a selfish thought, and that he couldn't keep her tied down to there. Especially given that she was young and still had much to live for and dreams to fulfill. Why would she want to stay in a place where she was stuck with nothing and doing nothing? Aside from Bomba…and himself…what else was there for MK to be in that place for?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

But now she had a chance to do something. She was going to go somewhere prestigious and study there, and once she "graduated" she would be able to go out into the world and do something for herself. Which meant further leaving him behind.

He wanted to be selfish and ask her to stay there, stay with him. And he hated that. Of all the times he finally chose to be selfish, it had to be now and at the expense of another.

Ronin couldn't help it though, and he knew and acknowledged that.

He was being selfish and was afraid the emptiness would come back to consume him from the inside.

* * *

Ronin still remembered the day she'd sat him down and told him she was leaving. He'd already had the sinking feeling that that was what it was coming down to, but he'd been holding out and hoping that she could come back and forth, and he'd still be able to see her.

Apparently, "Harvard" was farther away than that was capable of accomplishing.

_Ronin balanced on MK's shoulder as she walked from the window to her bed, setting him down carefully. She gave him an awkward smile._

_"I know I told you I got into Harvard…and I think you get the gist of what that means and what I'll be doing…"_

_At his nod, her smile turned more sad._

_"I'm going to be leaving, Ronin. I won't be here for a long time," she said softly._

_He stiffened up. It wasn't enough that she was leaving…but to be gone for a long time?_

_"You'll be gone for a long time?" he whispered, feeling the air just become stifling around him._

_MK sighed and nodded. "It's far away, Ronin. Which means I'll be moving over there, and I'll probably be gone for months at a time. Longer even. I may be back during breaks, and holidays like Christmas and stuff…but mostly, I'll be over there studying and attending classes."_

_He swallowed heavily, but nodded his acceptance._

Ronin hadn't really accepted it. Not really.

* * *

Ronin had thought about not coming, not wanting to see MK leave. But he knew he'd regret it if he didn't say goodbye, and then she was gone and he hadn't managed to show and tell her how much she'd helped him.

But as he watched MK hug her father behind, he couldn't work up the nerve to say anything. He just stood on the railing, feeling himself already coming apart.

It didn't make sense. Hadn't he become stronger these days? Why was he feeling like he was shattering into pieces because she was leaving?

Then she turned to him and gave him a soft smile, and deep down he knew why.

He gave a small smile back and tried not to feel like he was breaking inside.

* * *

It had been hours since MK had left. Ronin lingered in her room, looking around and remembering all the memories that had been made.

He remembered stars, music softly playing, and laughter and well-earned bruises. He remembered smiles shared, even if his weren't really smiles, because he had never let himself smile before. And he remembered coming together and being whole for the first time in a long while.

And now there was nothing.

Ronin felt as empty as the room was.

"Please come back."

Started 4/11/15 - Completed 4/14/15


End file.
